New York State has long been hailed by the labor movement for its high union density and strong and active local labor unions. Yet, like their counterparts in other states, unions in New York State have watched their numbers and their power shrink precipitously in the last few decades under the onslaught of corporate "downsizing," plant closings, decertifications, broken strikes, and concession bargaining. At the same time, an increasingly hostile political climate, combined with rabidly anti-union employers and weak and poorly enforced labor laws, have made it more and more difficult for New York State unions to expand their membership through new organizing. In 1995, the New York State AFL-CIO began working with me, in my capacity as the Director of Labor Education Research at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, to design an education program for affiliated unions to turn around the membership trend.